Proteins toxic or inhibitory to lepidopteran insects

ABSTRACT

Nucleotide sequences are disclosed encoding novel, insecticidal TIC2160 and TIC3244 proteins, and variants thereof, and related proteins exhibiting Lepidopteran inhibitory activity, as well as fragments thereof. Particular embodiments provide compositions and transformed plants, plant parts, and seeds containing a polynucleotide construct encoding one or more of the toxin proteins within the TIC2160-related protein toxin class.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/064,998, filed on Oct. 16, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

INCORPORATION OF SEQUENCE LISTING

The file named “P34229US02_SEQ.txt” containing the Sequence Listing was created on Oct. 14, 2015. This file is 191,472 bytes (measured in MS-Windows), is contemporaneously filed by electronic submission (using the United States Patent Office EFS-Web filing system), and is incorporated into this application by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to the field of insect inhibitory proteins. A novel class of proteins exhibiting insect inhibitory activity against agriculturally-relevant pests of crop plants and seeds are disclosed. In particular, the disclosed class of proteins is insecticidally active against agriculturally-relevant pests of crop plants and seeds, particularly Lepidopteran species of insect pests. Plants, plant parts, and seeds containing a polynucleotide construct encoding one or more of the disclosed toxin proteins are provided.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Improving crop yield from agriculturally significant plants including, among others, corn, soybean, sugarcane, rice, wheat, vegetables, and cotton, has become increasingly important. In addition to the growing need for agricultural products to feed, clothe and provide energy for a growing human population, climate-related effects and pressure from the growing population to use land other than for agricultural practices are predicted to reduce the amount of arable land available for farming. These factors have led to grim forecasts of food security, particularly in the absence of major improvements in plant biotechnology and agronomic practices.

Insects, particularly insects within the order Lepidoptera, are considered a major cause of damage to field crops, thereby decreasing crop yields over infested areas. Lepidopteran pest species which negatively impact agriculture include, but are not limited to, Helicoverpa zea, Ostrinia nubilalis, Diatraea saccharalis, Diatraea grandiosella, Anticarsia gemmatalis, Spodoptera frugiperda, Spodoptera exigua, Agrotis ipsilon, Trichoplusia ni, Chrysodeixis includens, Heliothis virescens, Plutella xylostella, Pectinophora gossypiella, Helicoverpa armigera, Elasmopalpus lignosellus, Striacosta albicosta and Phyllocnistis citrella.

Strains of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have historically been used as a source for proteins which exhibit pesticidal activity. For the past seventy years, Bt-derived toxin proteins have been employed in various agricultural applications to preserve agriculturally important plants and increase yields. Bt-derived insect inhibitory proteins are used to control agriculturally-relevant pests of crop plants by mechanical methods, such as spraying to disperse microbial formulations containing various Bt strains onto plant surfaces, and by using genetic transformation techniques to produce transgenic plants and seeds expressing Bt toxin protein.

The use of transgenic plants expressing Bt toxin proteins has been globally adapted. For example, in 2012, 26.1 million hectares were planted with transgenic crops expressing Bt toxins (James, C., Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2012. ISAAA Brief No. 44). The expanded use of transgenic insect-protected crops and the limited number of commercially available Bt toxin proteins is creating a selection pressure for alleles that impart resistance to the currently-utilized Bt proteins. The development of resistance in target pests to Bt toxin proteins undermines the effectiveness and advantages of this technology. Such advantages include increased crop yields, reduction in chemical pesticide use, and reduction in the costs and labor associated with chemical pesticide use.

The development of new forms of toxin proteins is central to managing the increase in insect resistance to transgenic crops expressing Bt toxin proteins. New protein toxins with improved efficacy and which exhibit control over a broader spectrum of susceptible insect species will reduce the number of surviving insects which can develop resistance alleles. In addition, two or more transgenic toxins, both toxic to the same insect pest and displaying different modes of action when expressed in a single plant, further reduces the probability of the development of resistance to either toxin by the target insect species.

Consequently, there is a critical need to discover and develop insecticidally effective toxin proteins with improved insecticidal properties such as increased efficacy against a broader spectrum of target insect pest species and different modes of action compared to proteins known in the art. A novel protein toxin TIC2160 is disclosed herein along with other similar toxin proteins, variant proteins, and exemplary recombinant proteins similar to TIC2160, that each exhibit insecticidal activity against significant target Lepidopteran pest species.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a novel class of insect inhibitory polypeptides (insect toxic proteins) which are shown to exhibit inhibitory activity against several Lepidopteran pests of crop plants. Each of the proteins can be used alone or in combination with each other and with other Bt proteins and toxic agents in formulations and in planta, providing alternatives to known Bt proteins and insecticide chemistries.

In one embodiment, a recombinant nucleic acid molecule is disclosed comprising a heterologous promoter fragment operably linked to a polynucleotide segment encoding a pesticidal protein or fragment thereof, wherein said pesticidal protein or pesticidal fragment thereof (a) comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 35, SEQ ID NO: 37, SEQ ID NO: 39, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, or SEQ ID NO: 4; or (b) comprises an amino acid sequence having at least from about 81% to about 100% amino acid sequence identity, or any fraction percentage point between 81% and 100%, to the proteins selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 35, SEQ ID NO: 37, SEQ ID NO: 39, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, and SEQ ID NO: 4. In another embodiment, said polynucleotide segment hybridizes to a polynucleotide having the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 34, SEQ ID NO: 36, SEQ ID NO: 38, SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 40, SEQ ID NO: 22, SEQ ID NO: 24, SEQ ID NO: 26, SEQ ID NO: 28, SEQ ID NO: 30, SEQ ID NO: 32, SEQ ID NO: 3, or SEQ ID NO: 5 under hybridization conditions of 68° C., followed by washing at 68° C., in 2×SSC containing 0.1% SDS; or (b) said recombinant nucleic acid molecule is in operable linkage with a vector, and said vector is selected from the group consisting of a plasmid, phagemid, bacmid, cosmid, and a bacterial or yeast artificial chromosome. The recombinant nucleic acid molecule can comprise a sequence that functions to express the pesticidal protein in a plant; or is expressed in a plant cell to produce a pesticidally effective amount of pesticidal protein.

In another embodiment, host cells are provided which contain at least one recombinant nucleic acid molecule disclosed herein, wherein the host cell is selected from the group consisting of a bacterial, a yeast, and a plant cell. Bacterial host cells include at least species such as Agrobacterium, Rhizobium, Bacillus, Brevibacillus, Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, and Erwinia. The Bacillus species is a Bacillus cereus or a Bacillus thuringiensis, the Brevibacillus is a Brevibacillus laterosperous, and said Escherichia is an Escherichia coli. Yeast host cells include at least Pichya and Saccharomyces species. Plant host cells include at least dicotyledonous plant cells and monocotyledonous plant cells, and as applicable, further include at least an alfalfa, banana, barley, bean, broccoli, cabbage, brassica, carrot, cassava, castor, cauliflower, celery, chickpea, Chinese cabbage, citrus, coconut, coffee, corn, clover, cotton, a cucurbit, cucumber, Douglas fir, eggplant, eucalyptus, flax, garlic, grape, hops, leek, lettuce, Loblolly pine, millets, melons, nut, oat, olive, onion, ornamental, palm, pasture grass, pea, peanut, pepper, pigeonpea, pine, potato, poplar, pumpkin, Radiata pine, radish, rapeseed, rice, rootstocks, rye, safflower, shrub, sorghum, Southern pine, soybean, spinach, squash, strawberry, sugar beet, sugarcane, sunflower, sweet corn, sweet gum, sweet potato, switchgrass, tea, tobacco, tomato, triticale, turf grass, watermelon, and wheat plant cells.

In another embodiment, the pesticidal protein exhibits activity against an insect species of the order Lepidoptera, including Velvet bean caterpillar, Sugarcane borer, Lesser cornstalk borer, Corn earworm, Tobacco budworm, Soybean looper, Black armyworm, Southern armyworm, Fall armyworm, Beet armyworm, Old World bollworm, Cabage Looper, Wester bean cutworm, Oriental leaf worm, Pink bollworm, Black cutworm, Southwestern corn Borer, Tobacco budworm, and European corn borer.

Also provided are plants comprising a recombinant nucleic acid molecule comprising a polynucleotide segment corresponding to a heterologous promoter operably linked to a segment encoding a pesticidal protein or pesticidal fragment thereof, wherein: (a) said pesticidal protein or pesticidal fragment thereof comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 35, SEQ ID NO: 37, SEQ ID NO: 39, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, or SEQ ID NO: 4; or (b) said pesticidal protein or pesticidal fragment thereof comprises an amino acid sequence having at least from about 81% to about 100% amino acid sequence identity, or any fraction percentage point between 81% and 100%, to the proteins selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 35, SEQ ID NO: 37, SEQ ID NO: 39, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, and SEQ ID NO: 4; or (c) said polynucleotide segment hybridizes under stringent hybridization conditions to a polynucleotide having the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 34, SEQ ID NO: 36, SEQ ID NO: 38, SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 40, SEQ ID NO: 22, SEQ ID NO: 24, SEQ ID NO: 26, SEQ ID NO: 28, SEQ ID NO: 30, SEQ ID NO: 32, SEQ ID NO: 3, or SEQ ID NO: 5 under hybridization conditions of 68° C., followed by washing at 68° C., in 2×SSC containing 0.1% SDS; or (d) said plant exhibits a detectable amount of said pesticidal protein, wherein the pesticidal protein is chosen from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 35, SEQ ID NO: 37, SEQ ID NO: 39, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, and SEQ ID NO: 4.

In one embodiment, the plant is either a dicotyledonous plant or a monocotyledonous plant. In another embodiment, the plant is further selected from the group consisting of an alfalfa, banana, barley, bean, broccoli, cabbage, brassica, carrot, cassava, castor, cauliflower, celery, chickpea, Chinese cabbage, citrus, coconut, coffee, corn, clover, cotton, a cucurbit, cucumber, Douglas fir, eggplant, eucalyptus, flax, garlic, grape, hops, leek, lettuce, Loblolly pine, millets, melons, nut, oat, olive, onion, ornamental, palm, pasture grass, pea, peanut, pepper, pigeon pea, pine, potato, poplar, pumpkin, Radiata pine, radish, rapeseed, rice, rootstocks, rye, safflower, shrub, sorghum, Southern pine, soybean, spinach, squash, strawberry, sugar beet, sugarcane, sunflower, sweet corn, sweet gum, sweet potato, switchgrass, tea, tobacco, tomato, triticale, turf grass, watermelon, and wheat.

In a further embodiment, seeds comprising the recombinant nucleic acid molecules are disclosed.

In another embodiment, an insect inhibitory composition is provided comprising the recombinant nucleic acid molecules as set forth herein. The insect inhibitory composition can further comprise a nucleotide sequence encoding at least one other pesticidal agent that is different from said pesticidal protein. In certain embodiments, the at least one other pesticidal agent is selected from the group consisting of an insect inhibitory protein, an insect inhibitory dsRNA molecule, and an ancillary protein. The at least one other pesticidal agent in the insect inhibitory composition exhibits activity against one or more pest species of the orders Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Homoptera, or Thysanoptera. The at least one other pesticidal agent in the insect inhibitory composition is selected from the group consisting of a Cry1A, Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, Cry1A.105, Cry1Ae, Cry1B, Cry1C, Cry1C variants, Cry1D, Cry1E, Cry1F, Cry1A/F chimeras, Cry1G, Cry1H, Cry1I, Cry1J, Cry1K, Cry1L, Cry2A, Cry2Ab, Cry2Ae, Cry3, Cry3A variants, Cry3B, Cry4B, Cry6, Cry7, Cry8, Cry9, Cry15, Cry34, Cry35, Cry43A, Cry43B, Cry51Aa1, ET29, ET33, ET34, ET35, ET66, ET70, TIC400, TIC407, TIC417, TIC431, TIC800, TIC807, TIC834, TIC853, TIC900, TIC901, TIC1201, TIC1415, TIC3131, VIP3A, VIP3B, VIP3Ab, AXMI-001, AXMI-002, AXMI-030, AXMI-035, AXMI-036, AXMI-045, Axmi52, Axmi58, Axmi88, Axmi97, Axmi102, Axmi112, Axmi117, Axmi100, AXMI-115, AXMI-113, and AXMI-005, AXMI134, AXMI-150, Axmi171, AXMI-184, axmi196, axmi204, axmi207, axmi209, Axmi205, AXMI218, AXMI220, AXMI221z, AXMI222z, AXMI223z, AXMI224z and AXMI225z, AXMI238, AXMI270, AXMI279, AXMI345, AXMI-R1 and variants thereof, IP3 and variants thereof, DIG-3, DIG-5, DIG-10 and a DIG-11 protein.

Commodity products are provided comprising a detectable amount of the recombinant nucleic acid molecules disclosed herein. Such commodity products include commodity corn which may be bagged by a grain handler, corn flakes, corn cakes, corn flour, corn meal, corn syrup, corn oil, corn silage, corn starch, corn cereal, and the like, and corresponding soybean, rice, wheat, sorghum, pigeon pea, peanut, fruit, melon, and vegetable commodity products including, where applicable, juices, concentrates, jams, jellies, marmalades, and other edible forms of such commodity products containing a detectable amount of such polynucleotides and or polypeptides of this application, whole or processed cotton seed, cotton oil, lint, seeds and plant parts processed for feed or food, fiber, paper, biomasses, and fuel products such as fuel derived from cotton oil or pellets derived from cotton gin waste, whole or processed soybean seed, soybean oil, soybean protein, soybean meal, soybean flour, soybean flakes, soybean bran, soybean milk, soybean cheese, soybean wine, animal feed comprising soybean, paper comprising soybean, cream comprising soybean, soybean biomass, and fuel products produced using soybean plants and soybean plant parts.

Also contemplated is a method of producing seed comprising one or more of the recombinant nucleic acid molecules disclosed herein. The method includes planting at least one such seed; growing a plant from the seed; and harvesting progeny seed from the plant, wherein the harvested seed comprises the one or more recombinant nucleic acid molecules.

In another embodiment, a plant resistant to insect infestation is provided. The cells of said plant optionally comprise: (a) a recombinant nucleic acid molecule encoding an insecticidally effective amount of a pesticidal protein as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 35, SEQ ID NO: 37, SEQ ID NO: 39, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, or SEQ ID NO: 4; or (b) an insecticidally effective amount of a protein comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 81%, or 85%, or 90%, or 95%, or about 100% amino acid sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 35, SEQ ID NO: 37, SEQ ID NO: 39, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, or SEQ ID NO: 4.

Also disclosed are methods for controlling a Lepidopteran species pest, and controlling a Lepidopteran species pest infestation of a plant, particularly a crop plant. The method will comprise contacting the pest with an insecticidally effective amount of a pesticidal proteins as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 35, SEQ ID NO: 37, SEQ ID NO: 39, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, or SEQ ID NO: 4; or contacting the pest with an insecticidally effective amount of one or more pesticidal proteins comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 81%, or 85%, or 90%, or 95%, or about 100% amino acid sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 35, SEQ ID NO: 37, SEQ ID NO: 39, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 41, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, or SEQ ID NO: 4.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEQUENCES

SEQ ID NO: 1 is the native nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 toxin protein obtained from the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) species EG8781.

SEQ ID NO: 2 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 toxin protein.

SEQ ID NO: 3 is the native nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC3244 toxin protein obtained from the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) species EG8639.

SEQ ID NO: 4 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC3244 toxin protein.

SEQ ID NO: 5 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 toxin protein designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 6 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 protein toxin designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 7 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC3244 toxin protein designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 8 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_De18.

SEQ ID NO: 9 is the amino acid sequence of a His-tagged TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_De18_MGSSHHHHHHH.

SEQ ID NO: 10 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_De18.

SEQ ID NO: 11 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding TIC2160_De18 designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 12 is the amino acid sequence of a His-tagged TIC2160 protein, TIC2160 MGSSHHHHHHH.

SEQ ID NO: 13 is an artificial nucleotide sequence (TIC2160 forward primer) for use as a probe or primer that corresponds to nucleotide positions 1 to 27 as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1.

SEQ ID NO: 14 is an artificial nucleotide sequence (TIC2160 reverse primer) for use as a probe or primer that corresponds to the reverse complement of nucleotide positions 2370 to 2396 as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1.

SEQ ID NO: 15 is an artificial nucleotide sequence (TIC2160 forward primer seq1) for use as a probe or primer that corresponds to nucleotide positions 517 to 539 as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1.

SEQ ID NO: 16 is an artificial nucleotide sequence (TIC2160 forward primer seq2) for use as a probe or primer that corresponds to nucleotide positions 1350 to 1371 as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1.

SEQ ID NO: 17 is an artificial nucleotide sequence (TIC2160 reverse primer seq3) for use as a probe or primer that corresponds to nucleotide positions 1350 to 1371 as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1.

SEQ ID NO: 18 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein (Variant-a-058).

SEQ ID NO: 19 is the amino acid sequence of the TIC2160 variant toxin protein, Variant-a-058.

SEQ ID NO: 20 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, Variant-a-145.

SEQ ID NO: 21 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, Variant-a-145.

SEQ ID NO: 22 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_13, designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 23 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_13.

SEQ ID NO: 24 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin, TIC2160_14, designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 25 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_14.

SEQ ID NO: 26 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_15, designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 27 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_15.

SEQ ID NO: 28 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_16, designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 29 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_16, encoded by SEQ ID NO: 28.

SEQ ID NO: 30 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_17, designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 31 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein TIC2160_17 encoded by SEQ ID NO: 30.

SEQ ID NO: 32 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_18, designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 33 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_18.

SEQ ID NO: 34 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_20, designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 35 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_20.

SEQ ID NO: 36 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_21, designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 37 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC2160_21.

SEQ ID NO: 38 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC5420_13, designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 39 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC5420_13.

SEQ ID NO: 40 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC5420_a, from the ORF as set forth at nucleotide positions 1-2355, and is designed for expression in a plant cell.

SEQ ID NO: 41 is the amino acid sequence of a TIC2160 variant toxin protein, TIC5420_a.

SEQ ID NO: 42 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding TIC2160_MGSSHHHHHHH.

SEQ ID NO: 43 is an artificial nucleotide sequence encoding TIC2160_De18_MGSSHHHHHHH.

SEQ ID NO: 44 is the amino acid sequence of an N-terminal HIS tag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

New toxin proteins are needed for control of plant pest infestations by Lepidopteran insects. New toxins should exhibit different modes of action (MOA) compared to toxin proteins currently used in commercial embodiments, and should preferably exhibit broad spectrum biological activity. Disclosed in this application are insecticidal proteins exemplified by TIC2160 and synthetic or artificial variants of TIC2160 which address the need for an alternative MOA and exhibit activity against a broad spectrum of Lepidopteran insect pests.

Reference herein to TIC2160, or to “TIC2160 protein,” “TIC2160 protein toxins,” “TIC2160 toxin proteins,” “TIC2160-related toxins,” “TIC2160-related protein toxin class or family,” “TIC2160-related toxin proteins,” “TIC2160-related toxin polypeptides”, “TIC2160-related pesticidal proteins”, “variants of TIC2160”, or “TIC2160 variants” and the like, as used in this application, refer to any novel insect inhibitory protein that comprises, that consists, that is substantially homologous to, that is similar to, or that is derived from any insect inhibitory polypeptide sequence of TIC2160 (SEQ ID NO: 2) and insect inhibitory segments thereof, or combinations thereof, that confer activity against Lepidopteran pests, including any protein exhibiting insect inhibitory activity if alignment of such protein with TIC2160 as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2 results in at least about 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or about 100% amino acid sequence identity (or any fraction percentage in this range).

The term “segment” or “fragment” is used in this application to describe consecutive amino acid or nucleic acid sequences that are shorter than the complete amino acid or nucleic acid sequence describing a TIC2160 protein. A segment or fragment exhibiting insect inhibitory activity is also disclosed in this application if alignment of such segment or fragment, with the corresponding section of the TIC2160 protein set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2, results in at least about 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or about 100% amino acid sequence identity (or any fraction percentage in this range) between the segment or fragment and the corresponding section of the TIC2160 protein.

Reference in this application to the term “active” or “activity,” “pesticidal activity,” “insecticidal activity”, or “insect-inhibitory activity” refers to efficacy of a toxic agent, such as a protein toxin, in inhibiting a pest. Pesticidal activity is intended to include the result of providing a toxic protein to a pest where the exposure of the pest to the toxic protein results in morbidity, mortality, or stunting. Pesticidal activity also includes repulsion of the pest from the plant, a tissue of the plant, a plant part, seed, plant cells, or from the particular geographic location where the plant may be growing, as a result of providing a toxic protein in or on the plant. In general, pesticidal activity refers to the ability of a toxic protein to be effective in inhibiting the growth, development, viability or fecundity of a particular target pest, particularly an insect pest, including but not limited to insects of the order Lepidoptera. The toxic protein can be produced by the plant or can be applied to the plant or to the environment within the location where the plant is located.

A pesticidally effective amount of a toxic protein, when provided in the diet of a target pest, exhibits pesticidal activity when the toxic protein contacts the pest. A toxic agent can be a pesticidal protein or one or more chemical agents known in the art. Insecticidal chemical agents and insecticidal protein agents can be used alone or in combinations with each other. Chemical agents include but are not limited to organochlorides, organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, ryanoids, and dsRNA molecules targeting specific genes for suppression in a target pest. Insecticidal protein agents include the protein toxins set forth in this application, as well as other proteinaceous toxic agents including those that target Lepidopteran, as well as protein toxins that are used to control other plant pests such as Cry proteins available in the art for use in controlling Coleopteran, Hemipteran, Homopteran, or Thysanopteran species.

It is intended that reference to a pest, particularly a pest of a crop plant, means insect pests of crop plants, particularly those that are controlled by the TIC2160-related protein toxin class. However, reference to a pest can also include other pests such as Coleopteran, Hemipteran, Homopteran, or Thysanopteran plant insect pests, as well as nematodes and fungi when toxic agents targeting these pests are co-localized or present together with one or more proteins of the TIC2160-related protein toxin class.

The individual proteins which comprise the TIC2160-related protein class are related by common function and exhibit insecticidal activity towards insect pests from the Lepidoptera insect species, including adults, pupae, larvae, and neonates. The insects of the order Lepidoptera include, but are not limited to, armyworms, cutworms, loopers, and heliothines in the Family Noctuidae, e.g., fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua), Southern armyworm (Spodoptera eridania), bertha armyworm (Mamestra configurata), black cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon), cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni), soybean looper (Pseudoplusia includens), velvetbean caterpillar (Anticarsia gemmatalis), green cloverworm (Hypena scabra), tobacco budworm (Heliothis virescens), granulate cutworm (Agrotis subterranea), armyworm (Pseudaletia unipuncta), western cutworm (Agrotis orthogonia); borers, casebearers, webworms, coneworms, cabbageworms and skeletonizers from the Family Pyralidae, e.g., European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis), navel orangeworm (Amyelois transitella), corn root webworm (Crambus caliginosellus), sod webworm (Herpetogramma licarsisalis), sunflower moth (Homoeosoma electellum), lesser cornstalk borer (Elasmopalpus lignosellus); leafrollers, budworms, seed worms, and fruit worms in the Family Tortricidae, e.g., codling moth (Cydia pomonella), grape berry moth (Endopiza viteana), oriental fruit moth (Grapholita molesta), sunflower bud moth (Suleima helianthana); and many other economically important Lepidoptera, e.g., diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) and gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar). Other insect pests of order Lepidoptera include, e.g., Alabama argillacea (cotton leaf worm), Archips argyrospila (fruit tree leaf roller), Archips rosana (European leafroller) and other Archips species, Chilo suppressalis (Asiatic rice borer, or rice stem borer), Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (rice leaf roller), Crambus caliginosellus (corn root webworm), Crambus teterrellus (bluegrass webworm), Diatraea grandiosella (southwestern corn borer), Diatraea saccharalis (surgarcane borer), Earias insulana (spiny bollworm), Earias vittella (spotted bollworm), Helicoverpa armigera (American bollworm), Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm, or soybean pod worm, or cotton bollworm), Heliothis virescens (tobacco budworm), Herpetogramma licarsisalis (sod webworm), Lobesia botrana (European grape vine moth), Phyllocnistis citrella (citrus leafminer), Pieris brassicae (large white butterfly), Pieris rapae (imported cabbageworm, or small white butterfly), Plutella xylostella (diamondback moth), Spodoptera exigua (beet armyworm), Spodoptera litura (tobacco cutworm, cluster caterpillar), and Tuta absoluta (tomato leafminer).

Reference in this application to an “isolated DNA molecule,” or an equivalent term or phrase, is intended to mean that the DNA molecule is one that is present alone or in combination with other compositions, but not within its natural environment. For example, nucleic acid elements such as a coding sequence, intron sequence, untranslated leader sequence, promoter sequence, transcriptional termination sequence, and the like, that are naturally found within the DNA of the genome of an organism are not considered to be “isolated” so long as the element is within the genome of the organism and at the location within the genome in which it is naturally found. However, each of these elements, and subparts of these elements, would be “isolated” within the scope of this disclosure so long as the element is not within the genome of the organism and at the location within the genome in which it is naturally found. Similarly, a nucleotide sequence encoding a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal protein or any naturally occurring insecticidal variant of that protein would be an isolated nucleotide sequence so long as the nucleotide sequence was not within the DNA of the Bt bacterium from which the sequence encoding the protein is naturally found. An synthetic nucleotide sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of the naturally occurring Bt insecticidal protein would be considered to be isolated for the purposes of this disclosure. For the purposes of this disclosure, any transgenic nucleotide sequence, i.e., the nucleotide sequence of the DNA inserted into the genome of the cells of a plant or bacterium, or present in an extrachromosomal vector would be considered to be an isolated nucleotide sequence whether it is present within the plasmid or similar structure used to transform the cells, within the genome of the plant or bacterium, or present in detectable amounts in tissues, progeny, biological samples or commodity products derived from the plant or bacterium.

An open reading frame (ORF) encoding TIC2160 was discovered with DNA obtained from a Bt strain EG8781. High throughput sequencing and bioinformatics were used to screen Bt genomes for TIC2160-related protein-encoding genes, such as the ORF for TIC3244 derived from Bt strain EG8639. Genomes of interest were identified and the respective coding sequences were cloned and expressed in microbial host cells to produce recombinant proteins for use in insect bioassays.

Variants of the TIC2160 protein toxin class were produced by substituting, deleting or inserting amino acids into parent protein sequences, such as TIC2160, and making appropriate changes to the polynucleotides encoding these variants. Multiple rounds of engineering, testing, and selecting of over 500 amino acid sequence variants of TIC2160 resulted in the identification of amino acid residues that may be substituted, inserted or deleted, producing Lepidopteran toxic proteins that exhibit an expanded insect species inhibitory spectrum and improved Lepidopteran inhibitory activity (i.e., more toxic; less protein is required to obtain the same level of mortality) when compared to the spectrum and activity of the baseline protein TIC2160. Neutral amino acid residue substitutions and deletions in TIC2160 that do not change the protein's insect inhibitory spectrum or activity were also identified.

In certain instances, the produced variants in the TIC2160 protein toxin class exhibit an increased Lepidopteran inhibitory activity and target pest species spectrum compared to the activity and target pest species spectrum of the TIC2160 protein (SEQ ID NO: 2). Each of the disclosed TIC2160 toxic protein variants contain at least one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, or eight amino acid substitutions, and can also comprise insertion and deletions of amino acids. These substitutions, deletions and insertions are described with reference to the amino acid sequence positions as numbered according to the amino acid positions of TIC2160_MGSSHHHHHHH (SEQ ID NO: 12) and are presented in Table 4 of Example 3. For example, the exemplary TIC2160 variants Variant-a-058 (SEQ ID NO: 19) and Variant-a-145 (SEQ ID NO: 21), which show improved activity for Fall armyworm, comprise insertions, substitutions or deletions selected from the group consisting of deletion of residues 2 through 11 after residue 1, deletion of residues 12 through 14, insertion of EFCEH after D at position 488, substitution of I at position 15 for M, substitution of D at position 86 for G, substitution of I at position 131 for V, substitution of K at position 145 for M, substitution of E at position 206 for D, substitution of K at position 207 for S or N, substitution of N at position 208 for R or K, substitution of P at position 209 for G or K, substitution of K at position 210 for R or S, substitution of S at position 211 for G, substitution of Q at position 213 for E, substitution of D at position 214 for N, substitution of N at position 215 for D, substitution of T at position 217 for S, substitution of K at position 218 for R, substitution of E at position 219 for Q, substitution of E at position 222 for N, substitution of N at position 223 for E, substitution of N at position 225 for T, substitution of E at position 226 for D, substitution of R at position 261 for K, substitution of K at position 265 for R, substitution of S at position 268 for A, substitution of E at position 269 for Q, substitution of K at position 273 for R, substitution of E at position 274 for N, substitution of N at position 275 for E, substitution of V at position 276 for T, substitution of T at position 277 for V, substitution of Q at position 320 for K, substitution of I at position 321 for T, substitution of E at position 322 for Q, substitution of H at position 324 for Q, substitution of I at position 326 for L, substitution of N at position 344 for S, substitution of E at position 377 for Q, substitution of S at position 465 for N, substitution of D at position 484 for I, substitution of I at position 492 for L, substitution of L at position 547 for V, substitution of I at position 561 for F, substitution of T at position 575 for F, substitution of A at position 590 for E, substitution of I at position 593 for V, substitution of V at position 626 for A, substitution of K at position 647 for N, substitution of V at position 664 for A, substitution of F at position 671 for L, substitution of S at position 677 for G, substitution of F at position 696 for L, substitution of G at position 717 for G, substitution of E at position 735 for Q, substitution of K at position 759 for N, substitution of L at position 762 for F, substitution of V at position 766 for I, substitution of L at position 771 for F, substitution of R at position 773 for S, substitution of T at position 778 for R, substitution of K at position 781 for E, substitution of E at position 783 for D, substitution of T at position 791 for S, and substitution of N at position 802 for S. Other exemplary amino acid insertions, deletions and substitutions are presented in Table 4 of Example 3 below.

Core toxin fragments were processed from the full-length proteins of the TIC2160 toxin protein class. This core toxin processing occurred by incubation with proteolytic enzymes or with insect gut juices, or a combination. The use of non-full-length proteins, or core toxin fragments, of the TIC2160 toxin protein class is contemplated in the disclosure of this application. In addition, the TIC2160 toxin protein class includes functionally equivalent fragments (N- or C-terminal) of the TIC2160-related proteins. The TIC2160 toxin protein class may also be truncated, a process in which one or more amino acids are deleted from the N-terminal end, from the C-terminal end, from positions within the middle of the protein, or using various combinations thereof, so long as the resulting protein exhibits inhibitory activity. These fragments can be naturally occurring or synthetic.

Certain members of the TIC2160 protein toxin class share an N-terminal motif with the sequence MQRMIIVDN. Forward oligonucleotide primers, e.g., SEQ ID NO: 13, hybridize to the minus (−) strand of the DNA sequence encoding for these N-terminal sequences. Certain members of the TIC2160 protein toxin class also share a C-terminal consensus sequence FSNVSIVKE. Reverse oligonucleotide primers, e.g., SEQ ID NO: 14, hybridize to the plus (+) strand of the DNA sequence encoding for the C-terminus sequence of proteins of the present invention. Additional forward and reverse oligonucleotide primers, e.g., SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 16, SEQ ID NO: 17, hybridize to corresponding minus (−) and plus (+) strands of the DNA sequence encoding for the sequence of certain members of the TIC2160 protein toxin class. Used alone or in combination, as-is or modified, such forward and reserve primers can be used to amplify copies, prime for sequencing, introduce coding substitutions, and/or identify nucleotide sequences encoding for proteins of the TIC2160 protein toxin class.

Through this process, a novel class of proteins which exhibits insect inhibitory activity against Lepidopteran species, the TIC2160 protein toxins, was discovered and is disclosed in this application. The TIC2160 protein toxin class includes TIC2160 and TIC3244 and protein variants derived from TIC2160 and TIC3244. The polypeptides and proteins of the TIC2160 protein toxin class are related by biological toxin activity against Lepidoptera insect pests, by primary structure (conserved amino acid sequence segments or motifs), by length (deduced full-length proteins are about 800 amino acids as full-length), and by size (75-95 kDaltons). The Lepidopteran toxic proteins variants provided herein can be derived from various proteins, including but not limited to, TIC2160 and TIC3244.

Proteins that resemble the TIC2160 protein toxin class can be identified by comparison to each other using various computer based algorithms known in the art. For example, the amino acid identities reported in this application are a result of a Clustal W alignment using these default parameters: Weight matrix: blosum, Gap opening penalty: 10.0, Gap extension penalty: 0.05, Hydrophilic gaps: On, Hydrophilic residues: GPSNDQERK, Residue-specific gap penalties: On (Thompson et al (1994) Nucleic Acids Research, 22:4673-4680). Percent amino acid identity is further calculated by the product of 100% multiplied by (amino acid identities/length of subject protein).

It is intended that a query protein exhibiting insect inhibitory activity against a Lepidopteran insect species is member of the TIC2160 protein toxin class if a Clustal W alignment of such query protein with the subject proteins TIC2160 (SEQ ID NO: 2) or TIC3244 (SEQ ID NO: 4) results in at least about (100%×(650/798)=81.45%) between the query and subject proteins; or specifically, at least about 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 99.1, 99.3, 99.4, 99.5, 99.6, 99.8, 99.9, or 100% amino acid sequence identity between the query and subject proteins, or any fraction percentage in this range.

Exemplary proteins of the TIC2160 protein toxin class, TIC2160 (SEQ ID NO: 2) and TIC3244 (SEQ ID NO: 4), and variants of TIC2160 (TIC2160_De18, SEQ ID NO: 10; TIC2160_13, SEQ ID NO: 23; TIC2160_14, SEQ ID NO: 25; TIC2160_15, SEQ ID NO: 27; TIC2160_16, SEQ ID NO: 29; TIC2160_17, SEQ ID NO: 31; TIC2160_18, SEQ ID NO: 33; TIC2160_20, SEQ ID NO: 35; TIC2160_21, SEQ ID NO: 37; TIC5420_13, SEQ ID NO: 39, and TIC5420_a, SEQ ID NO: 41) were aligned with each other using a Clustal W algorithm. A pair-wise matrix of percent amino acid sequence identities for each pair was created, as reported in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Pair-wise matrix display of exemplary proteins. SEQ ID Y NO: 2 4 25 27 31 33 29 X 2 — 99.9 97.6 97.5 98.6 97.9 99.2 (797)   (779)   (778)   (787)   (781)   (792)   4 99.9 — 97.5 97.4 98.5 97.7 99.1 (797)   (778)   (777)   (786)   (780)   (791)   25 97.6 97.5 — 98.6 97.9 97.1 96.9 (779)   (778)   (787)   (781)   (775)   (773)   27 97.5 97.4 98.6 — 97.7 98.5 98.2 (778)   (777)   (787)   (780)   (786)   (784)   31 98.6 98.5 97.9 97.7 — 99.2 97.9 (787)   (786)   (781)   (780)   (792)   (781)   33 97.9 97.7 97.1 98.5 99.2 — 98.6 (781)   (780)   (775)   (786)   (792)   (787)   29 99.2 99.1 96.9 98.2 97.9 98.6 — (792)   (791)   (773)   (784)   (781)   (787)   37 99.2 99.1 96.9 97.7 97.9 98.1 99.5 (792)   (791)   (773)   (780)   (781)   (783)   (794)   35 99.9 99.7 97.5 97.6 98.5 98   99.4 (797)   (796)   (778)   (779)   (786)   (782)   (793)   10 99.7 99.6 97.3 97.2 98.4 97.6 99   (786)   (785)   (767)   (766)   (775)   (769)   (780)   23 98   97.9 95.6 95.5 96.6 95.9 97.2 (783)   (782)   (764)   (763)   (772)   (766)   (777)   39 90   89.9 88.4 89.1 89.1 89.4 90.3 (720)   (719)   (707)   (713)   (713)   (715)   (722)   41 94.6 94.5 92.6 92.4 93.5 92.7 93.9 (743)   (742)   (727)   (725)   (734)   (728)   (737)   Y SEQ ID Y NO: 37 35 10 23 39 41 X 2 99.2 99.9 98.5 98.1 90.2 93.1 (792)   (797)   (786)   (783)   (720)   (743)   4 99.1 99.7 98.4 98   90.1 93   (791)   (796)   (785)   (782)   (719)   (742)   25 96.9 97.5 96.1 95.7 88.6 91.1 (773)   (778)   (767)   (764)   (707)   (727)   27 97.7 97.6 96   95.6 89.3 90.9 (780)   (779)   (766)   (763)   (713)   (725)   31 97.9 98.5 97.1 96.7 89.3 92   (781)   (786)   (775)   (772)   (713)   (734)   33 98.1 98   96.4 96   89.6 91.2 (783)   (782)   (769)   (766)   (715)   (728)   29 99.5 99.4 97.7 97.4 90.5 92.4 (794)   (793)   (780)   (777)   (722)   (737)   37 — 99.4 97.7 97.4 91   92.4 (793)   (780)   (777)   (726)   (737)   35 99.4 — 98.4 98   90.4 93   (793)   (785)   (782)   (721)   (742)   10 99   99.6 — 99   90.9 94.3 (780)   (785)   (780)   (716)   (743)   23 97.2 97.9 97.6 — 90.7 92.2 (777)   (782)   (780)   (725)   (737)   39 90.8 90.1 89.5 90.6 — 94.1 (726)   (721)   (716)   (725)   (753)   41 93.9 94.5 94.6 93.9 95.9 — (737)   (742)   (743)   (737)   (753)   Y Table description: Clustal W alignment between (X) and (Y) are reported in a pair-wise matrix. The percent amino acid identity between all pairs is calculated and is represented by the first number in each box. The second number (in parentheses) in each box represents the number of identical amino acids between the pair.

The full-length proteins of the TIC2160 protein toxin class can also be related by primary structure (conserved amino acid motifs) and by length (about 798 amino acids). The full-length proteins from the present invention have a measured mass of about 75-95 kDaltons when run on protein gels under denaturing conditions.

The proteins of the disclosed TIC2160 protein toxin class represent a new class of Bt proteins, exhibiting no greater than 95% amino acid identity to any other Bt protein known in the art. The proteins exhibiting the nearest identity to any of the proteins of the present invention are Axmi335 (WO2013134523), VIP3Ba1 (GI:56069746, ACCESSION AAV70653) and VIP3Aa2 (GenBank accession AAC37037). Axmi335, VIP3Ba1 and VIP3Aa2 were aligned using Clustal W to TIC2160 and TIC3244. The results are of this alignment are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Alignment of TIC2160 and TIC3244 proteins to VIP3B and VIP3A. TIC2160 TIC3244 (SEQ ID NO: 2) (SEQ ID NO: 4) VIP3Ba1^(i) 596 identities 596 identities 74.7% 74.2% VIP3Aa2^(ii) 485 identities 484 identities 61.5% 61.3% Axmi335^(iii) 754 identities 753 identities 94.3% 94.1% Clustal W alignment is reported as number of amino acid identities, and as the percent amino acid identity to the length of TIC2160 (798 AAs) and TIC3244 (798 AAs) respectively. ^(i)GenBank accession AAV70653 ^(ii)GenBank accession AAC37037 ^(iii)WO2013134523-0002

The TIC2160 proteins disclosed in this application exhibit activity in diet bioassays against Southwestern Corn Borers (SWC, Diatraea grandiosella), Sugarcane Borers (SCB, Diatraea saccharalis), Corn Earworms (CEW, Helicoverpa zea), Fall Armyworms (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda), Cabbage Loopers (CLW, Trichoplusia ni), European Corn Borers (ECB, Ostrinia nubilalis), Soybean Loopers (SBL, Chrysodeixis includens), Western Bean Cutworm (WBC, Striacosta albicosta), and Southern Armyworms (SAW, Spodoptera eridania). Since Helicoverpa zea larva are polyphagous, other common names associated with it include Cotton Bollworm (CBW) and Soybean Podworm (SPW).

As described further in the Examples of this application, polynucleotide sequences encoding TIC2160 toxin proteins were designed for use in plants. Expression cassettes and vectors containing these polynucleotide sequences were constructed and introduced into corn, soybean, cotton and sugarcane plant cells in accordance with transformation methods and techniques known in the art. Transformed cells were regenerated into transformed plants that were observed to be expressing TIC2160 toxin proteins. To test pesticidal activity, bioassays were performed in the presence of Lepidopteran pest larvae using plant leaf disks obtained from the transformed plants.

Table 3 tabulates, by insect species, the insect inhibitory activity of exemplary members of the TIC2160 protein toxin class. The insect inhibitory activity of exemplary members of the TIC2160 protein toxin class is described in more detail in the Examples. Also included in Table 3 are the reported activities for recombinantly expressed Axmi335 and VIP3A proteins. As demonstrated in Table 3, the insecticidal activity of the TIC2160 protein toxin class is unique when compared to Axmi335 and VIP3A reported activities.

TABLE 3 Lepidopteran spectrum of the exemplary proteins of the present invention cf. VIP3A. Axmi335 VIP3A Common TIC2160 (WO2013134523- (VIP#a Genus/species name TIC2160 Del#8 TIC3244 0002) reference) Diatraea Southwestern + + + + + grandiosella corn borer (U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,279) (SWC) Diatraea Sugarcane + nt nt + + saccharalis borer (SCB) (U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,279) Helicoverpa Corn + − nt + + zea earworm (PNAS Vol.93 (CEW) pp.5389-5394) Spodoptera Fall + − + + + frugiperda armyworm (PNAS Vol.93 (FAW) pp.5389-5394) Trichoplusiani Cabbage + nt + nt + looper (U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,279) (CLW) Ostrinia European + nt + + − nubilalis corn borer (PNAS Vol.93 (ECB) pp.5389-5394) Chrysodeixis Soybean + + nt + nt includens looper (SBL) Striacosta Western + nt nt nt nt albicosta bean cutworm (WBC) Agrotis Black − − nt − + ipsilon cutworm (PNAS Vol.93 (BCW) pp.5389-5394) Anticarsia Velvetbean − − nt nt + gemmatalis caterpillar (U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,279) (VBC) Table description: Lepidopteran-activity spectrum for TIC2160, TIC2160_Del#8, TIC3244, Axmi335 and VIP3A reported as active (+), not active (−), and not-tested (nt). See Examples section for insect testing of TIC2160. See references for insect testing of VIP3A and WO2013134 for Axmi335.

Recombinant polynucleotide compositions that encode TIC2160 proteins are contemplated. For example, TIC2160 proteins can be expressed with recombinant DNA constructs in which a polynucleotide molecule with an ORF encoding the protein is operably linked to genetic expression elements such as a promoter and any other regulatory element necessary for expression in the system for which the construct is intended. Non-limiting examples include a plant-functional promoter operably linked to the TIC2160 protein encoding sequences for expression of the protein in plants or a Bt-functional promoter operably linked to a TIC2160 protein encoding sequence for expression of the protein in a Bt bacterium or other Bacillus species. Other elements can be operably linked to the TIC2160 protein encoding sequences including, but not limited to, enhancers, introns, untranslated leaders, encoded protein immobilization tags (HIS-tag), translocation peptides (i.e., plastid transit peptides, signal peptides), polypeptide sequences for post-translational modifying enzymes, ribosomal binding sites, and RNAi target sites. Exemplary recombinant polynucleotide molecules provided herewith include, but are not limited to, a heterologous promoter operably linked to a polynucleotide such as SEQ ID NOs:1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 or 43 that encodes the polypeptides or proteins having the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 9, 10, 12, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, or 41. The codons of a recombinant polynucleotide molecule encoding for proteins disclosed herein can be substituted by synonymous codons (known in the art as a silent substitution).

A recombinant DNA construct comprising TIC2160 protein encoding sequences can further comprise a region of DNA that encodes for one or more insect inhibitory agents which can be configured to concomitantly express or co-express with a DNA sequence encoding a TIC2160 protein, a protein different from a TIC2160 protein, an insect inhibitory dsRNA molecule, or an ancillary protein. Ancillary proteins include, but are not limited to, co-factors, enzymes, binding-partners, or other agents that function synergistically to aid in the effectiveness of an insect inhibitory agent, for example, by aiding its expression, influencing its stability in plants, optimizing free energy for oligomerization, augmenting its toxicity, and increasing its spectrum of activity.

A recombinant DNA construct can be assembled so that all proteins or dsRNA molecules are expressed from one promoter or each protein or dsRNA molecules is under separate promoter control or some combination thereof. In one example, a plant multi-gene expression system can utilize multiply-linked expression cassettes, each cassette expressing a different protein or other agent such as one or more dsRNA molecules. Yet in another example, a plant multi-gene expression system can utilize multiply-unlinked expression cassettes each expressing a different protein or other agent such as one or more dsRNA molecules.

Recombinant polynucleotides or recombinant DNA constructs comprising a TIC2160 protein encoding sequence can be delivered to host cells by vectors, e.g., a plasmid, baculovirus, synthetic chromosome, virion, cosmid, phagemid, phage, or viral vector. Such vectors can be used to achieve stable or transient expression of a TIC2160 protein encoding sequence in a host cell, or subsequent expression of the encoded polypeptide. An exogenous recombinant polynucleotide or recombinant DNA construct that comprises a TIC2160 protein encoding sequence and that is introduced into a host cell is referred herein as a “transgene.”

Transgenic bacteria, transgenic plant cells, transgenic plants, and transgenic plant parts that contain a recombinant polynucleotide that expresses any one or more of the TIC2160 protein encoding sequences are provided herein. The term “bacterial cell” or “bacterium” can include, but is not limited to, an Agrobacterium, Rhizobium, Bacillus, Brevibacillus, Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, and Erwinia wherein the Bacillus species can be a Bacillus cereus or a Bacillus thuringiensis, the Brevibacillus can be a Brevibacillus laterosperous, and the Escherichia can be an Escherichia coli cell. The term “plant cell” or “plant” can include but is not limited to a monocot, a dicot, an alfalfa, banana, barley, bean, broccoli, cabbage, brassica, carrot, cassava, castor, cauliflower, celery, chickpea, Chinese cabbage, citrus, coconut, coffee, corn, clover, cotton, a cucurbit, cucumber, Douglas fir, eggplant, eucalyptus, flax, garlic, grape, hops, leek, lettuce, Loblolly pine, millets, melons, nut, oat, olive, onion, ornamental, palm, pasture grass, pea, peanut, pepper, pigeon pea, pine, potato, poplar, pumpkin, Radiata pine, radish, rapeseed, rice, rootstocks, rye, safflower, shrub, sorghum, Southern pine, soybean, spinach, squash, strawberry, sugar beet, sugarcane, sunflower, sweet corn, sweet gum, sweet potato, switchgrass, tea, tobacco, tomato, triticale, turf grass, watermelon, and wheat plant cell or plant. In certain embodiments, transgenic plants and transgenic plant parts regenerated from a transgenic plant cell are provided. In certain embodiments, the transgenic plants can be obtained from a transgenic seed, by cutting, snapping, grinding or otherwise disassociating the part from the plant. In certain embodiments, the plant part can be a seed, a boll, a leaf, a flower, a stem, a root, or any portion thereof, or a non-regenerable portion of a transgenic plant part. As used in this context, a “non-regenerable” portion of a transgenic plant part is a portion that can not be induced to form a whole plant or that can not be induced to form a whole plant that is capable of sexual and/or asexual reproduction. In certain embodiments, a non-regenerable portion of a plant part is a portion of a transgenic seed, boll, leaf, flower, stem, or root.

Methods of making transgenic plants that comprise insect or Lepidoptera-inhibitory amounts of a TIC2160 protein or variants of TIC2160 are provided. Such plants can be made by introducing a recombinant polynucleotide that encodes any of the TIC2160 proteins provided herein into a plant cell, and selecting a plant derived from the plant cell that expresses an insect or Lepidoptera-inhibitory amount of the TIC2160 proteins. Plants can be derived from the plant cells by regeneration, seed, pollen, or meristem transformation techniques. Methods for transforming plants are known in the art.

For expression in plant cells, any of the TIC2160 proteins can be expressed to reside in the cytosol or targeted to various organelles of the plant cell. For example, targeting a protein to the chloroplast may result in increased levels of expressed protein in a transgenic plant while preventing off-phenotypes from occurring. Targeting may also result in an increase in pest resistance efficacy in the transgenic event. A target peptide or transit peptide is a short (3-70 amino acids long) peptide chain that directs the transport of a protein to a specific region in the cell, including the nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), chloroplast, apoplast, peroxisome and plasma membrane. Some target peptides are cleaved from the protein by signal peptidases after the proteins are transported. For targeting to the choloroplast, proteins contain transit peptides which are around 40-50 amino acids. For descriptions of the use of chloroplast transit peptides, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,188,642 and 5,728,925. Many chloroplast-localized proteins are expressed from nuclear genes as precursors and are targeted to the chloroplast by a chloroplast transit peptide (CTP). Examples of such isolated chloroplast proteins include, but are not limited to, those associated with the small subunit (SSU) of ribulose-1,5,-bisphosphate carboxylase, ferredoxin, ferredoxin oxidoreductase, the light-harvesting complex protein I and protein II, thioredoxin F, enolpyruvyl shikimate phosphate synthase (EPSPS), and transit peptides described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,193,133. It has been demonstrated in vivo and in vitro that non-chloroplast proteins may be targeted to the chloroplast by use of protein fusions with a heterologous CTP and that the CTP is sufficient to target a protein to the chloroplast. Incorporation of a suitable chloroplast transit peptide such as the Arabidopsis thaliana EPSPS CTP (CTP2) (See, Klee et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 210:437-442, 1987) or the Petunia hybrida EPSPS CTP (CTP4) (See, della-Cioppa et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:6873-6877, 1986) has been shown to target heterologous EPSPS protein sequences to chloroplasts in transgenic plants (See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,627,061; 5,633,435; and 5,312,910; and EP 0218571; EP 189707; EP 508909; and EP 924299). For targeting the TIC5290 protein to the chloroplast, a sequence encoding a chloroplast transit peptide is placed 5′ in operable linkage and in frame to a synthetic coding sequence encoding the TIC5290 toxin protein that has been designed for optimal expression in plant cells.

TIC2160 protein-encoding sequences and sequences having a substantial percentage identity to TIC2160 protein-encoding sequences can be identified using methods known to those of ordinary skill in the art such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and hybridization. For example, the proteins of the TIC2160 protein toxin class can be used to produce antibodies that bind specifically to this class of proteins, and can be used to screen for and to find other members of the class.

Further, nucleotide sequences encoding the TIC2160 protein toxin class (and reverse complement sequences) can be used as probes and primers for screening to identify other members of the class using thermal-cycle or isothermal amplification and hybridization methods, e.g., oligonucleotides as set forth in SEQ ID NOs:13-17. Nucleotide sequence homologs, e.g., insecticidal proteins encoded by nucleotide sequences that hybridize to each or any of the sequences disclosed in this application under stringent hybridization conditions, are an embodiment of the present invention. The invention also provides a method for detecting a first nucleotide sequence that hybridizes to a second nucleotide sequence, wherein the first nucleotide sequence (or its reverse complement sequence) encodes an insecticidal protein or insecticidal fragment thereof and hybridizes under stringent hybridization conditions to the second nucleotide sequence. In such case, the second nucleotide sequence can be any of the nucleotide sequences disclosed in the TIC2160 protein toxin class under stringent hybridization conditions. Nucleotide coding sequences hybridize to one another under appropriate hybridization conditions and the proteins encoded by these nucleotide sequences cross react with antiserum raised against any one of the other proteins. Stringent hybridization conditions, as defined herein, comprise at least hybridization at 42° C. followed by two washes for five minutes each at room temperature with 2×SSC, 0.1% SDS, followed by two washes for thirty minutes each at 65° C. in 0.5×SSC, 0.1% SDS. Washes at even higher temperatures constitute even more stringent conditions, e.g., hybridization conditions of 68° C., followed by washing at 68° C., in 2×SSC containing 0.1% SDS. One skilled in the art will recognize that, due to the redundancy of the genetic code, many other sequences are capable of encoding such related proteins, and those sequences, to the extent that they function to express insecticidal proteins either in Bt strains or in plant cells, are embodiments of the present invention, recognizing of course that many such redundant coding sequences will not hybridize under these conditions to the native Bt sequences encoding TIC2160. This application contemplates the use of these, and other identification methods known to those of ordinary skill in the art, to identify TIC2160 protein-encoding sequences and sequences having a substantial percentage identity to TIC2160 protein-encoding sequences.

This disclosure also contemplates the use of molecular methods known in the art to engineer and clone commercially useful proteins comprising chimeras of proteins from pesticidal proteins; e.g., the chimeras may be assembled from segments of the TIC2160 proteins to derive additional useful embodiments including assembly of segments of TIC2160 proteins with segments of diverse proteins different from TIC2160 and related proteins. The TIC2160 protein class may be subjected to alignment to each other and to other Bt pesticidal proteins (whether or not these are closely or distantly related phylogenetically), and segments of each such protein may be identified that are useful for substitution between the aligned proteins, resulting in the construction of chimeric proteins. Such chimeric proteins can be subjected to pest bioassay analysis and characterized for the presence or absence of increased bioactivity and/or expanded target pest spectrum compared to the parent proteins from which each such segment in the chimera was derived. The pesticidal activity of the polypeptides may be further engineered for activity to a particular pest or to a broader spectrum of pests by swapping domains or segments with other proteins or by using directed evolution methods known in the art.

Methods of controlling insects, in particular Lepidoptera infestations of crop plants, with proteins from the TIC2160 toxin protein class are also disclosed in this application. Such methods can comprise growing a plant comprising an insect- or Lepidoptera-inhibitory amount of a protein of the TIC2160 toxin protein class. In certain embodiments, such methods can further comprise any one or more of: (i) applying any composition comprising or encoding a protein of the TIC2160 protein toxin class to the plant or a seed that gives rise to the plant; and (ii) transforming the plant or a plant cell that gives rise to the plant with a polynucleotide encoding a protein of the TIC2160 protein toxin class. In general, it is contemplated that any protein in the TIC2160 protein toxin class can be provided in a composition, provided in a microorganism, or provided in a transgenic plant to confer insect inhibitory activity against Leptidopteran insects.

In certain embodiments, a recombinant polypeptide of the TIC2160 protein toxin class is the insecticidally active ingredient of an insect inhibitory composition prepared by culturing recombinant Bt cells under conditions to express and produce proteins of the TIC2160 protein toxin class. Such a composition can be prepared by desiccation, lyophilization, homogenization, extraction, filtration, centrifugation, sedimentation, or concentration of a culture of recombinant Bt cells expressing/producing said recombinant polypeptide. Such a process can result in a Bt cell extract, cell suspension, cell homogenate, cell lysate, cell supernatant, cell filtrate, or cell pellet. By obtaining the recombinant polypeptides so produced, a composition that includes the recombinant polypeptides can include bacterial cells, bacterial spores, and parasporal inclusion bodies and can be formulated for various uses, including as agricultural insect inhibitory spray products or as insect inhibitory formulations in diet bioassays.

The possibility for insects to develop resistance to certain insecticides has been documented in the art. One insect resistance management strategy is to employ transgenic crops that express two distinct insect inhibitory agents that operate through different modes of action. Therefore, any insects with resistance to either one of the insect inhibitory agents can be controlled by the other insect inhibitory agent. Another insect resistance management strategy employs the use of plants that are not protected to the Lepidopteran pest species to provide a refuge for such unprotected plants. One particular example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,962, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In one embodiment, to reduce the likelihood of resistance development, an insect inhibitory composition or transgenic plant comprising one or more proteins from the TIC2160 protein toxin class can further comprise at least one additional polypeptide that exhibits insect inhibitory activity against the same or other susceptible Lepidopteran insect species, but is different from the TIC2160 protein toxin. Possible additional polypeptides for such a composition include an insect inhibitory protein, an insect inhibitory dsRNA molecule, and an ancillary protein. One example for the use of such ribonucleotide sequences to control insect pests is described in U.S. Patent Publication 2006/0021087. Such additional polypeptide may be selected from the group consisting of a Lepidopteran insect inhibitory protein, such as, but not limited to, Cry1A (U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,275), Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, Cry1A.105, Cry1Ae, Cry1B (U.S. patent Publication Ser. No. 10/525,318), Cry1C (U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,874), Cry1D, Cry1Da, Cry1E, Cry1F, and Cry1A/F chimeras (U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,070,982; 6,962,705; and 6,713,063), Cry1G, Cry1H, Cry1I, Cry1J, Cry1K, Cry1L, Cry2A, Cry2Ab (U.S. Pat. No. 7,064,249), Cry2Ae, Cry4B, Cry6, Cry7, Cry8, Cry9, Cry15, Cry43A, Cry43B, Cry51Aa1, ET66, TIC400, TIC800, TIC834, TIC1415, Vip3A, VIP3Ab, VIP3B, AXMI-001, AXMI-002, AXMI-030, AXMI-035, AND AXMI-045 (U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0117884 A1), AXMI-52, AXMI-58, AXMI-88, AXMI-97, AXMI-102, AXMI-112, AXMI-117, AXMI-100 (U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0310543 A1), AXMI-115, AXMI-113, AXMI-005 (U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0104259 A1), AXMI-134 (U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0167264 A1), AXMI-150 (U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0160231 A1), AXMI-184 (U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0004176 A1), AXMI-196, AXMI-204, AXMI-207, axmi209 (U.S. Patent Publication 2011-0030096 A1), AXMI-218, AXMI-220 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0245491 A1), AXMI-221z, AXMI-222z, AXMI-223z, AXMI-224z, AXMI-225z (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0196175 A1), AXMI-238 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0033363 A1), AXMI-270 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0223598 A1), AXMI-345 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0373195 A1), DIG-3 (U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0219570 A1), DIG-5 (U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0317569 A1), DIG-11 (U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0319093 A1), AfIP-1A and derivatives thereof (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0033361 A1), MT-1B and derivatives thereof (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0033361 A1), PIP-1APIP-1B (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0007292 A1), PSEEN3174 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0007292 A1), AECFG-592740 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0007292 A1), Pput_1063 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0007292 A1), Pput_1064 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0007292 A1), GS-135 and derivatives thereof (U.S. Patent Publication 2012-0233726 A1), GS153 and derivatives thereof (U.S. Patent Publication 2012-0192310 A1), GS154 and derivatives thereof (U.S. Patent Publication 2012-0192310 A1), GS155 and derivatives thereof (U.S. Patent Publication 2012-0192310 A1), SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Patent Publication 2012-0167259 A1, SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Patent Publication 2012-0047606 A1, SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Patent Publication 2011-0154536 A1, SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Patent Publication 2011-0112013 A1, SEQ ID NO: 2 and 4 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0192256 A1, SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0077507 A1, SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0077508 A1, SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Patent Publication 2009-0313721 A1, SEQ ID NO: 2 or 4 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0269221 A1, SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,772,465 (B2), CF161_0085 and derivatives thereof as described in WO2014/008054 A2, Lepidopteran toxic proteins and their derivatives as described in US Patent Publications US2008-0172762 A1, US2011-0055968 A1, and US2012-0117690 A1; SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,510,878(B2), SEQ ID NO: 2 and derivatives thereof as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,812,129(B1); DIG-911 and DIG-180 as described in US Patent Publication No. 2015-0264940A1, and the like.

In other embodiments, such composition/formulation can further comprise at least one additional polypeptide that exhibits insect inhibitory activity to an insect that is not inhibited by an otherwise insect inhibitory protein of the present invention to expand the spectrum of insect inhibition obtained. For example, for the control of Coleopteran pests, combinations of insect inhibitory proteins of the present invention can be used with Coleopteran-active proteins such as, but not limited to, Cry3Bb (U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,009), Cry1C variants, Cry3A variants, Cry3, Cry3B, Cry34/35, 5307, AXMI134 (U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0167264 A1) AXMI-184 (U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0004176 A1), AXMI-205 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0298538 A1), AXMI-207 (U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0303440 A1), AXMI-218, AXMI-220 (U.S. Patent Publication 20140245491A1), AXMI-221z, AXMI-223z (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0196175 A1), AXMI-279 (U.S. Patent Publication 2014-0223599 A1), AXMI-R1 and variants thereof (U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0197592 A1, TIC407, TIC417, TIC431, TIC807, TIC853, TIC901, TIC1201, TIC3131, DIG-10 (U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0319092 A1), eHIPs (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0017914), IP3 and variants thereof (U.S. Patent Publication 2012-0210462 A1), and ω-Hexatoxin-Hv1a (U.S. Patent Application Publication US2014-0366227 A1). For control of Hemipteran pests, combinations of insect inhibitory proteins of the present invention can be used with Hemipteran-active proteins such as, but not limited to, TIC1415 (US Patent Publication 2013-0097735 A1), TIC807 (U.S. Pat. No. 8,609,936), TIC834 (U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0269060 A1), AXMI-036 (U.S. Patent Publication 2010-0137216 A1), and AXMI-171 (U.S. Patent Publication 2013-0055469 A1). Additional polypeptides for the control of Coleopteran, Lepidopteran, and Hemipteran insect pests can be found on the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin nomenclature website maintained by Neil Crickmore (on the world wide web at btnomenclature.info).

Other embodiments such as topically applied pesticidal chemistries that are designed for controlling pests that are also controlled by the proteins disclosed herein to be used with proteins in seed treatments, spray on, drip on, or wipe on formulations can be applied directly to the soil (a soil drench), applied to growing plants expressing the proteins disclosed herein, or formulated to be applied to seed containing one or more transgenes encoding one or more of the proteins disclosed. Such formulations for use in seed treatments can be applied with various stickers and tackifiers known in the art. Such formulations can contain pesticides that are synergistic in mode of action with the proteins disclosed, so that the formulation pesticides act through a different mode of action to control the same or similar pests that can be controlled by the proteins disclosed, or that such pesticides act to control pests within a broader host range, such as Lepidopteran or Hemipteran species or other plant pest species such as Coleopteran species that are not effectively controlled.

The aforementioned composition/formulation can further comprise an agriculturally-acceptable carrier, such as a bait, a powder, dust, pellet, granule, spray, emulsion, a colloidal suspension, an aqueous solution, a Bacillus spore/crystal preparation, a seed treatment, a recombinant plant cell/plant tissue/seed/plant transformed to express one or more of the proteins, or bacterium transformed to express one or more of the proteins. Depending on the level of insect inhibitory or insecticidal inhibition inherent in the recombinant polypeptide and the level of formulation to be applied to a plant or diet assay, the composition/formulation can include various by weight amounts of the recombinant polypeptide, e.g. from 0.0001% to 0.001% to 0.01% to 1% to 99% by weight of the recombinant polypeptide.

EXAMPLES

In view of the foregoing, those of skill in the art should appreciate that changes can be made in the specific aspects which are disclosed and still obtain a like or similar result without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting. It should be understood that the entire disclosure of each reference cited herein is incorporated by reference in its entirety within the disclosure of this application.

Example 1: Discovery of Novel Bt Genes

This Example describes the discovery of the pesticidal proteins TIC2160 and TIC3244.

A sequence encoding a novel Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) pesticidal protein was identified, cloned, sequence confirmed and tested in bioassay. The pesticidal protein TIC2160, presented herein as SEQ ID NOs: 1 (DNA) and 2 (protein), was isolated from the Bacillus thuringiensis strain EG8781. High throughput sequencing and bioinformatics were used to screen Bt genomes for genes (open reading frames) encoding proteins exhibiting similarity to TIC2160. A highly related gene, TIC3244, presented herein as SEQ ID NO: 3 (DNA) and SEQ ID NO: 4 (Protein) and derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strain EG8639, was identified using this method. No proteins were identified in the prior art that exhibited insect toxic properties having any identity to these proteins greater than 94.6% with respect to the amino acid sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:4.

Example 2: Expression of Insect Inhibitory Proteins in Bacteria

This Example describes the characterization of a new class of Bt genes described in Example 1.

Nucleotide segments encoding this new class of Bt genes were made (a) by PCR amplification from corresponding genomic samples from which each open reading frame was identified in Example 1, (b) by molecular methods to introduce deletions, additions, and/or substitutions, and (c) by DNA synthesis to replace codons with synonymous codons. Nucleotide segments encoding this new class of Bt genes were also made by DNA synthesis to introduce deletions, additions, and/or substitutions.

Nucleotide segments set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 (encodes TIC2160), SEQ ID NO: 8 (encodes TIC2160_De18), and SEQ ID NO: 3 (encodes TIC3244) were separately operably linked to a Bt sporulation stage promoter. A single clone for each construct was replicated in a Bt expression system. A population of Bt cells were harvested during the sporulation growth stage, and protein was extracted from cell lysate.

Nucleotide segments encoding an N-terminal HIS tag (SEQ ID NO: 44) fusion with TIC2160 (TIC2160_MGSSHHHHHHH, SEQ ID NO:12) and TIC2160_De18 (TIC2160_De18_MGSSHHHHHHH, SEQ ID NO:9) were separately operably linked to requisite E. coli expression elements. A single clone for each construct was replicated in an E. coli expression system. A population of E. coli cells were induced for recombinant protein expression, and protein was extracted and enriched for on HIS affinity columns.

The resulting bacterial transformants described in this Example were grown in culture media. Proteins from sample extractions were separated on denaturing gels. Western blots were performed to confirm the expression of the intended recombinant proteins having the deduced amino acid sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2 (TIC2160), SEQ ID NO: 8 (TIC2160_De18), SEQ ID NO: 12 (TIC2160_MGSSHHHHHHH), SEQ ID NO: 9 (TIC2160_De18_MGSSHHHHHHH), and SEQ ID NO: 4 (TIC3244). The bacterial transformants were observed to exhibit insect inhibitory properties to a variety of Lepidopteran pest species as described in Examples 3 and 4 below.

Example 3: Creation of TIC2160 Variants

Different strategies were employed to generate insecticidal toxin-variants disclosed in this application.

One exemplary strategy employed was to predict the secondary structure of the insecticidal protein of interest, e.g. TIC2160. Another exemplary strategy was to perform multiple sequence alignments of the insecticidal protein of interest, such as TIC2160, with close homologs to identify amino acid positions in the loop regions that might be important for receptor binding. Several amino acid variants were introduced into stretches of about eighty (80) amino acids of the N-terminal helical domain. Additional variants were designed with alternative sequences in loop regions in the putative C-terminal domain. These loop designs were generated such that subsequent combinations of loop designs are feasible.

Table 4 tabulates TIC2160 variants of the present invention with amino acid sequence changes compared to TIC2160_MGSSHHHHHHH (SEQ ID NO: 12). These variants contain an N-terminal His-tag (MGSSHHHHHHH) to facilitate protein purification and quantitation of TIC2160 and variants of TIC2160. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that the amino acid changes for individual variants shown in Table 4 can be combined to design other Lepidopteran active variants of the present invention. The nomenclature used to describe amino acid changes of the variants compared to TIC2160_MGSHHHHHH (SEQ ID NO: 12) is as follows: “i” is insertion, “d” is deletion, “:” means “through”, and “_” means “and”. For example, “d-Q12:14” means that residues 12 through 14 from TIC2160 MGSSHHHHHHH are deleted in the variant. “i-D488EFCEH” means that the sequence “EFCEH” is inserted after D at position 488. “d-M1GSSHHHHHHH” for TIC2160 (SEQ ID NO: 2) means that GSSHHHHHHH is inserted after M at position 1 to produce TIC2160_MGSHHHHHHH (SEQ ID NO: 12). Another example is “K273R_E274NN275E_V276T_T277V_E282Q”. This variant (Variant-b-101) contains the following substitutions: K was substituted by R at position 273, N was substituted by N at position 274, N was substituted at position 275 by E, V was substituted by T at position 276, T was substituted by V at position 277, and E was substituted by Q at position 282.

The resulting variants were assayed for activity against the Lepidopteran insect pests Corn earworm (CEW, Helicoverpa zea), Fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda), Soybean looper (SBL, Chrysodeixis includens), European corn borer (ECB, Ostrinia nubilalis), Southwestern corn borer (SWC, Diatraea grandiosella), Sugarcane borer (SCB, Diatraea saccharalis), Black cutworm (BCW, Agrotis ipsilon), Southern armyworm (SAW, Spodoptera eridania), Cabbage looper (CLW, Trichoplusia ni), and Velvetbean caterpillar (VBC, Anticarsia gemmatalis) in diet bioassays as described in Table 4 below.

TABLE 4 TIC2160 variants exhibiting Lepidopteran activity Bacterial Amino acid changes compared to % ID to SEQ Variant ID TIC2160_MGSSHHHHHHH (SEQ ID NO: 12) CEW FAW SBL ID NO: 12 ECB SWC SCB BCW SAW CLW VBC TIC2160_ NA ++ + ++ NA Y Y Y N N Y N MGSSHHHHHHH (SEQ ID NO: 12)  TIC2160_Del8 d-476:485_C486s_D488A - - + 98.6 NT Y NT N NT Y NT (SEQ ID NO: 10)  Variant-b-192 K419R_Q420E_K428R_D429N_E431D_K477E_ ++ + ++ 98   Y Y Y N N NT N TIC2160_13 E478K_K479R_S480T_C481S_E482D_ (SEQ ID NO: 23)  E483Q_S485G_C486S_E487D_i-E489Q Variant-b-139 K207R_N208P_P209G_K210A_S211K_ ++ ++ ++ 97.5 Y Y Y N N NT N TIC2160_15 Y212R_Q213R_N215P_V216G_T217S_K218R_ (SEQ ID NO: 27) E219Q_V220L_I221L_K273R_E274N_N275E_ V276T_T277V_E282Q Variant-b-101 K273R_E274N_N275E_V276T_T277V_E282Q ++ ++ ++ 99.3 Y Y Y N N NT N TIC2160_16 (SEQ ID NO: 29)  Variant-b-096 K207N_N208K_P209K_K210S_S211G_Q213E_ + + + Y Y Y N N NT N TIC2160_17 D214N_N215D_J2175_K218R_E219Q (SEQ ID NO: 31)  Variant-b-145 K207N_N208K_P209K_K210S_S211G_Q213E_ +++ +++ ++ 97.9 Y Y Y N N NT N TIC2160_18 D214N_N215D_T217S_K218R_E219Q_ (SEQ ID NO: 33) K273R_E274N_N275E_V276T_T277V_E282Q Variant-b-228 K207R_N208P_P209G_K210A_S211K_Y212R_ + + + 97.6 NT NT NT NT NT NT NT TIC2160_14 Q213R_N215P_V216G_T217S_K218R_ (SEQ ID NO: 25) E219Q_V220L_I221L_E735N_N736Q_D737S_ S738D_T739S Variant-d-274 V276T +++ ++ +++ 99.9 Y Y Y N N NT N TIC2160_20 (SEQ ID NO: 35)  Variant-d-259 K265R_E269Q_E274N_N275E_V276T_T276V +++ ++ +++ 99.3 Y Y Y N N NT N TIC2160_21 (SEQ ID NO: 37)  Variant-c-287 d-Q12:14_I15M_N20T_N23D_V24T_G58S_ +++ ++ ++ 89.8 Y Y Y N Y NT N TIC5420_13 G78S_D86T_I131V_K145M_E206D_K207S_ (SEQ ID NO: 39) N208R_P209G_K210R_E222N_N223E_N225T_ E226D_R261K_K265R_S268A_E269Q_E274N_ N275E_V276T_T277V_Q320K_I321T_H324Q_ I326L_N344S_S351T_K352R_N353Q_ R354K_E377Q_K419R_Q420E_K428R_D429N_ E431D_S465N_K477R_E478Q_K479E_ S480G_C481S_E482D_E483D_S485T_i- S485SRKRF_D488H_I492L_L547V_I561F_ T575F_A590E_I593V_V626A_K647N_V664A_ F671L_S677G_F696L_G717E_E735Q_K759N_ L762F_V766I_L771F_R773S_T778R_K781E_ E783D_T791S_N802S Variant-a-058 d- ++ ++ +++ 92.3 Y Y Y N Y NT N (SEQ ID NO: 19) Q12:14_I15M_D86G_I131V_K145M_E206D K207S_N208R_P209G_K210R_E222N_N223E_  N225T_E226D_R261K_K265R_S268A_ E269Q_E274N_N275E_V276T_T277V_Q320K_ I321T_H324Q_I326L_N344S_E377Q_S465N_ D484E_i- D488EFCEH_I492L_L547V_I561F_T575F_ A590E_I593V_V626A_K647N_V664A_F671L_ S677G_F696L_G717E_E735Q_K759N_L762F_ V766I_L771F_R773S_T778R_K781E_E783D_ T791S_N802S Variant-a-145 d-Q12: (SEQ ID NO: 21) 14_I15M_N20T_N23D_V24T_G58S_G78S_ ++ ++ ++ 92.3 Y Y Y N Y NT N D86T_I131V_K145M_E206D_K207S_N208R_ P209G_K210R_E222N_N223E_N225T_ E226D_R261K_K265R_S268A_E269Q_E274N_ N275E_V276T_T277V_Q320K_I321T_H324Q_ I326L_N344S_E377Q_S465N_D484E_i- D488EFCEH_I492L_L547V_I561F_T575F_ A590E_I593V_V626A_K647N_V664A_F671L_ S677G_F696L_G717E_E735Q_K759N_L762F_ V766I_L771F_R773S_T778R_K781E_E783D_ T791S_N802S TIC5420_a-b d- - + NT 94.6 NT NT NT NT NT NT NT TIC5420_a Q12:14_I15M_D85G_I131V_K144M_P208S_ (SEQ ID NO: 41) S210A_N224T_E225D_S267A_Q319M_I320T_ H323Q_I325L_N343S_E377Q_S464N_d- 475:485_C486S_D488A_I492L_L547V_ I561F_T575F_A590E_I593V_V625A_K646N_ V663A_F671L_S677G_F696L_G717E_E735Q_ K759N_L782F_V766I_L771F_R773S_T778R_ K781E_E783D_T791S_N8025 -: no activity; +: activity against insect pest; ++: strong activity against insect pest; +++: no survivors in diet bioassay; NT: not tested; NA: not applicable; Y: activity observed; N: no activity observed; % ID describes the percent of sequence identity of the respective variants when aligned with TIC2160_MGSSHHHHHHH using alignment tools such as ClustA1 W.

Example 4: TIC2160 and TIC2160 Variants Demonstrate Activity Against Lepidopteran Insect Pests

This Example illustrates diet bioassay toxicity of exemplary proteins TIC2160 (SEQ ID NO: 2), TIC3244 (SEQ ID NO: 4), TIC2160_MGSSHHHHHHH (SEQ ID NO: 12), TIC2160_De18_MGSSHHHHHHH (SEQ ID NO: 9), and the TIC2160 variants listed in Table 4 of Example 3 above. The respective Bt and E. coli samples were prepared as described in Example 2 and were provided in an insect diet and used in diet bioassays against the Lepidopteran insect pests Corn earworm (CEW, Helicoverpa zea), Fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda), Soybean looper (SBL, Chrysodeixis includens), European corn borer (ECB, Ostrinia nubilalis), Southwestern corn borer (SWC, Diatraea grandiosella), Sugarcane borer (SCB, Diatraea saccharalis), Black cutworm (BCW, Agrotis ipsilon), Southern armyworm (SAW, Spodoptera eridania), Cabbage looper (CLW, Trichoplusia ni), and Velvetbean caterpillar (VBC, Anticarsia gemmatalis).

Protocols for bioassays and scoring insects for mortality and stunting are known in the art, examples of which are described in PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 2012/139004 and in U.S. Pat. No. 7,927,598.

Table 3 located in the detailed description of the invention correlates the exemplary proteins TIC2160, TIC2160_De18, and TIC3244 to pesticidal activity by insect species in diet bioassay and compares the activity of these exemplary proteins with Axmi335 and VIP3A.

Table 4 compares the activity of variants against FAW, SL and CEW and other Lepidopteran pests to TIC2160_MGSSHHHHHHH (SEQ ID NO: 12). Some of the variants of TIC2160 demonstrated improved activity relative to TIC2160, such as, Variant-b-139 and Variant b-101, which showed improved FAW activity. Other variants of TIC2160 demonstrated a reduced efficacy against specific Lepidoptera, such as, TIC2160_De18 which lost activity against FAW and CEW and TIC5420_a which demonstrated lost activity for CEW.

TIC2160 and variants of TIC2160 were also assayed against European corn borer, Southwestern corn borer, Sugarcane borer, Black cutworm, Southern armyworm, and Velvetbean caterpillar demonstrating activity against many of these insect pest species.

It is concluded that TIC2160, TIC2160MGSSHHHHHHH, TIC2160De18MGSSHHHHHHH, TIC3244 and the TIC2160 variants are active against Lepidopteran pests.

Example 5: Design of Synthetic Coding Sequences Encoding TIC2160 and Variants of TIC2160 for Expression in Plant Cells

Synthetic coding sequences were constructed for use in expression of the encoded protein in plants, cloned into a binary plant transformation vectors, and used to transform plant cells. The synthetic sequences were synthesized according to methods generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,365, avoiding certain inimical problem sequences such as ATTTA and A/T rich plant polyadenylation sequences while preserving the amino acid sequence of the original protein. The synthetic coding sequences encode TIC2160 and variants of TIC2160 comprising amino acid substitutions, deletions and insertions as described in Example 4 above. In some instances the synthetic coding sequences for TIC2160 and the TIC2160 variants were also designed to be targeted to the chloroplast by operably linking 5′ to the TIC2160 or TIC2160 variant coding sequence a sequence encoding a chloroplast targeting signal. Table 5 below shows the description of each of the TIC2160 variants along with the corresponding SEQ ID NOs for the synthetic coding sequence and the encoded amino acid sequence. The column “Corresponding Bacterial Variant from Table 4” shows the relationship between the plant variant designation and the assayed bacterial TIC2160 variant wherein the amino acid substitutions, deletions, and insertions in the plant variant correspond to the same substitutions, deletions, and insertions in the corresponding bacterial variant.

TABLE 5 TIC2160 and TIC2160 variant synthetic coding sequences. Synthetic Corresponding Plant Protein Bacterial DNA SEQ Plant Variant Variant from SEQ ID ID Description Table 4 NO: NO: TIC2160_Del8 TIC2160_Del8 11 10 TIC2160_13 Variant-b-192 22 23 TIC2160_14 Variant-b-228 24 25 TIC2160_15 Variant-b-139 26 27 TIC2160_16 Variant-b-101 28 29 TIC2160_17 Variant-b-096 30 31 TIC2160_18 Variant-b-145 32 33 TIC2160_20 Variant-d-274 34 35 TIC2160_21 Variant-d-259 36 37 TIC5420_13 Variant-c-287 38 39 TIC5420_a TIC5420_a-b 40 41

The TIC2160 variant synthetic coding sequences presented in Table 5 above were used in binary plant transformation vectors to generate transgenic plants expressing the TIC22160 variant toxin proteins and assayed for activity against Lepidopteran insect pests.

Example 6: Assay of Activity of TIC2160 and TIC2160 Variants in Stably Transformed Corn Plants Against Lepidopteran Insect Pests

This Example illustrates the Lepidopteran-inhibitory activity of TIC2160 and TIC2160 variants against various Lepidopteran insect pests when expressed in stably transformed corn plants.

Binary plant transformation vectors comprising transgene cassettes designed to express both plastid targeted and untargeted TIC2160 and variants of TIC2160 pesticidal proteins (TIC2160_De18, TIC5420_a, and TIC2160_18) were cloned using methods known in the art. The resulting vectors were used to stably transform corn plants. Tissues were harvested from the transformants and used in insect bioassay against various Lepidopteran insect pests.

The resulting plant transformation vectors comprised a first transgene cassette for expression of the TIC2160 and variants of TIC2160 pesticidal proteins which comprised a plant expressible promoter, operably linked 5′ to a leader, operably linked 5′ to an intron, operably linked 5′ to a synthetic coding sequence encoding a plastid targeted or untargeted TIC2160 or TIC2160 variant protein, which was in turn operably linked 5′ to a 3′ UTR; and a second transgene cassette for the selection of transformed plant cells using glyphosate selection. The synthetic coding sequence encoding the TIC2160 protein is presented as SEQ ID NO: 6 and encodes the protein presented herein as SEQ ID NO: 2. The synthetic coding sequence encoding the TIC2160 variant TIC2160_De18 is presented as SEQ ID NO: 11 and encodes the protein presented as SEQ ID NO: 10. The synthetic coding sequence encoding the TIC2160 variant TIC5420_a is presented as SEQ ID NO: 40 and encodes the protein presented as SEQ ID NO: 41. The synthetic coding sequence encoding TIC2160_18 is presented as SEQ ID NO: 32 and encodes the protein presented as SEQ ID NO: 33.

Corn variety LH244 was transformed with the binary transformation vectors described above using an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. The transformed cells were induced to form plants by methods known in the art. Bioassays using plant leaf disks were performed analogous to those described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,344,207. A non-transformed LH244 plant was used to obtain tissue to be used as a negative control. Multiple R₀ transformation events from each binary vector were assessed against Corn earworm (CEW, Helicoverpa zea), Fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda), Southwestern Corn Borer (SWC, Diatraea grandiosella), and Black cutworm (BCW, Agrotis ipsilon). For some selected events, F₁ leaf, ears, and stalk were assessed for damage using a rating scale. Events expressing TIC2160 were also assessed in field trials. Table 6 below shows the activity of TIC2160 and the variants of TIC2160 against Lepipdopteran insect pests wherein “+” indicates activity, “−” indicates no activity observed, and “NT” indicates testing was not performed or data is still pending against the insect and tissue.

TABLE 6 Assay of activity TIC2160 and TIC2160 variants against Leptidopteran insect pests in stably transformed corn plants. SEQ FAW CEW SWC BCW ID R₀ F₁ Field R₀ F₁ Field R₀ F₁ Field F₁ Toxin NO: Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Ear Ear Leaf Leaf Leaf Stalk TIC2160 2 − NT − + + + + + + − TIC2160_Del8 10 − NT NT + NT + NT NT NT TIC5420_a 41 + − NT + − − + − NT NT TIC2160_18 33 NT NT NT + NT NT + NT NT NT

As can be seen in Table 6 above, the TIC2160 pesticidal protein and each of the variants of TIC2160 demonstrated activity against two or more Lepidopteran insect pests in stably transformed corn plants.

Example 7: Assay of Activity of TIC2160 and TIC2160 Variants in Stably Transformed Soybean Plants Against Lepidopteran Insect Pests

This Example illustrates the Lepidopteran-inhibitory activity of TIC2160 and TIC2160 variants against various Lepidopteran insect pests when expressed in stably transformed soybean plants.

Binary plant transformation vectors comprising transgene cassettes designed to express both plastid targeted and untargeted TIC2160 and variants of TIC2160 pesticidal proteins (TIC2160_De18, TIC5420_a, TIC2160_13, TIC2160_14, TIC2160_15, TIC2160_16, TIC2160_17, and TIC2160_18) were cloned using methods known in the art. The resulting vectors were used to stably transform soybean plants. Tissues were harvested from the transformants and used in insect bioassay against various Lepidopteran insect pests.

The resulting plant transformation vectors comprised a first transgene cassette for expression of the TIC2160 and variants of TIC2160 pesticidal proteins which comprised a plant expressible promoter, operably linked 5′ to a leader, operably linked 5′ to a synthetic coding sequence encoding a plastid targeted or untargeted TIC2160 or TIC2160 variant protein, which was in turn operably linked 5′ to a 3′ UTR; and a second transgene cassette for the selection of transformed plant cells using spectinomycin selection.

TIC2160 (SEQ ID NO: 2 and encoded by SEQ ID NO: 6) and the TIC2160 variants TIC2160_De18, TIC5420_a, TIC2160_13, TIC2160_14, TIC2160_15, TIC2160_16, TIC2160_17, and TIC2160_18 encoded by the sequences as presented in Table 5 above were cloned into binary plant transformation vectors and used to transform soybean plant cells using an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. The transformed cells were induced to form plants by methods known in the art. Bioassays using plant leaf disks were performed as described above against the Lepidopteran insect pests Soybean pod worm (SPW, Helicoverpa zea), Southern armyworm (SAW, Spodoptera eridania), Soybean looper (SBL, Chrysodeixis includens), and Velvet bean catapillar (VBC, Anticarsia gemmatalis). Table 7 shows the activity of TIC2160 and the variants of TIC2160 against the Lepipdopteran insect pests wherein “+” indicates activity, “−” indicates no activity observed, and “NT” indicates testing was not performed or data is still pending against the insect.

TABLE 7 Assay of activity TIC2160 and TIC2160 variants against Leptidopteran insect pests in stably transformed soybean plants. SPW SAW SBL VBC R₀ R₁ R₀ R₁ R₀ R₁ R₀ R₁ Toxin SEQ ID NO: Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf TIC2160 2 + + + + + + NT + TIC2160_Del8 10 + NT − NT + NT NT NT TIC5420_a 41 + NT − NT + NT NT NT TIC2160_13 23 + NT + NT + NT NT NT TIC2160_14 25 − NT − NT − NT NT NT TIC2160_15 27 + NT + NT − NT NT NT TIC2160_16 29 + NT + NT + NT NT NT TIC2160_17 31 − NT − NT − NT NT NT TIC2160_18 33 + NT + NT − NT NT NT

As can be seen in Table 7 above, the TIC2160 pesticidal protein and TIC2160 variants TIC2160_De18, TIC5420_a, TIC2160_13, TIC2160_15, and TIC2160_18 demonstrated activity against Lepidopteran insect pests in stably transformed soybean plants.

Transgenic events expressing TIC2160 were also grown in screen house trials in the United States and infested with SAW, SBL, and SPW. Resistance was defined as being less than or equal to fifteen percent defoliation in the soybean plants. Plants expressing TIC2160 demonstrated resistance against SL and SPW in these trials based upon this criteria.

Example 8: Assay of Activity of TIC2160 and TIC2160 Variants in Stably Transformed Cotton Plants Against Lepidopteran Insect Pests

This Example illustrates the Lepidopteran-inhibitory activity of TIC2160 and the TIC2160 variant, TIC2160_18 against various Lepidopteran insect pests when expressed in stably transformed cotton plants.

Binary plant transformation vectors comprising transgene cassettes designed to express both plastid targeted and untargeted TIC2160 and TIC2160_18 pesticidal proteins were cloned using methods known in the art. The resulting vectors were used to stably transform cotton plants. Tissues were harvested from the transformants and used in insect bioassay against various Lepidopteran insect pests.

The resulting plant transformation vectors were as described in example 7 above where spectinomycin selection was used to select for transformed cotton cells.

TIC2160 (SEQ ID NO: 2 and encoded by SEQ ID NO: 6) and the TIC2160 variant, TIC2160_18 encoded by the sequence as presented in Table 5 above were cloned into binary plant transformation vectors and used to transform cotton plant cells using an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. The transformed cells were induced to form plants by methods known in the art. Bioassays using plant tissues were performed in a similar manner as described above against the Lepidopteran insect pests Cotton bollworm (CBW, Helicoverpa zea), Fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda), Soybean looper (SBL, Chrysodeixis includens), and Tobacco budworm (TBW, Heliothis virescens). For TIC2160, the tissues used in bioassay were R₀ leaf, R₁ leaf, R₁ squares and R₁ bolls. For TIC2160_18 R₀ leaf tissues were used in bioassay. Tables 8 and 9 below show the activity observed for TIC2160 and TIC2160_18 in bioassay against the Lepidopteran insect pests wherein “+” indicates activity, “−” indicates no activity observed, and “NT” indicates testing was not performed against the insect.

TABLE 8 Assay of activity TIC2160 and TIC2160_18 against Lepidopteran insect pests in stably transformed cotton plants. Insect SEQ CBW FAW ID R₀ R₁ R₁ R₀ R₁ Toxin NO: Leaf Leaf Boll Leaf Leaf TIC2160 2 + + + + + TIC2160_18 33 + NT NT NT NT

TABLE 9 Assay of activity TIC2160 and TIC2160_18 against Lepidopteran insect pests in stably transformed cotton plants. Insect SEQ SBL TBW ID R₀ R₁ R₀ R₁ Toxin NO: Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf TIC2160 2 + + + + TIC2160_18 33 + NT NT NT

As can be seen in Tables 8 and 9 above, the TIC2160 and TIC2160_18 pesticidal proteins demonstrated activity against Lepidopteran insect pests in stably transformed cotton plants.

Example 9: Assay of Activity of TIC2160 and TIC2160 Variants in Stably Transformed Sugarcane Plants Against Sugarcane Borer

This Example illustrates the Lepidopteran-inhibitory activity of TIC2160 against the Lepidopteran insect pest, Sugarcane borer when expressed in stably transformed sugarcane plants.

A binary plant transformation vector comprising a transgene cassette designed to express untargeted TIC2160 pesticidal protein was cloned using methods known in the art. The resulting vector as described in Example 6 above was used to stably transform sugarcane plants. The transformed plants were assayed for copy number of the inserted transgene cassette. Transgenic sugarcane plants comprising one or two insertions of the transgene cassette driving TIC2160 expression were infested with the Lepidopteran insect pest, Sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis). Leaf damage ratings were assayed after infestation and were compared to non-transgenic controls. Of the seventeen sugarcane events possessing one or two copies of the transgene cassette, ten events demonstrated resistance. Four events of the eight single copy events demonstrated resistance. The transgenic sugarcane plants expressing TIC2160 demonstrated resistance to Sugarcane borers.

Example 10: Assay of Activity of TIC5420_13 in Stably Transformed Cotton Against Lepidopteran Insect Pests

This Example describes assaying the TIC2160 variant, TIC5420_13 for Lepidopteran-inhibitory activity in stably transformed cotton.

Binary plant transformation vectors comprising transgene cassettes designed to express both plastid targeted and untargeted TIC5420_13 pesticidal protein are cloned using methods known in the art. The resulting vectors were used to stably transform cotton plants. Tissues are harvested from the transformants and used in insect bioassay against various Lepidopteran insect pests.

The resulting plant transformation vectors are as described in Example 7 above where spectinomycin selection is used to select for transformed cotton cells.

TIC5420_13 (SEQ ID NO: 39 and encoded by SEQ ID NO: 38) are cloned into binary plant transformation vectors and used to transform cotton plant cells using an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. The transformed cells are induced to form plants by methods known in the art. Bioassays using plant tissues are performed in a similar manner as described above against the Lepidopteran insect pests Cotton bollworm (CBW, Helicoverpa zea), Fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda), Soybean looper (SBL, Chrysodeixis includens), and Tobacco budworm (TBW, Heliothis virescens). Tissues such as R₀ leaf, R₀ squares, R₀ bolls, R₁ leaf, R₁ squares and R₁ bolls are used in bioassay to determine the activity of TIC5420_13 against the Lepidopteran insect pest species.

Example 11: Assay of Activity of TIC2160 and TIC2160 Variants in Stably Transformed Plants Against Lepidopteran Insect Pests

This Example describes assaying TIC2160 or variants of TIC2160 for Lepidopteran-inhibitory activity in stably transformed plants such as corn, soybean, cotton, and sugarcane; as well as other monocot and dicot species.

The synthetic coding sequences encoding TIC2160 or variants of TIC2160 such as those presented in Table 5 of example 5 above, or other synthetic coding sequences encoding new variants of TIC2160 used for expression in transformed plant cells are cloned into binary plant transformation vectors as previously described in examples 6 and 7 above. The binary plant transformation vectors can comprise plastid targeted or untargeted TIC2160 or TIC2160 variant coding sequences. The binary plant transformation vectors are used to transform plant cells derived from corn, soybean, cotton, or sugarcane; or other plant cells derived from other monocot or dicot plant species. The transformed cells are induced to form whole plants.

Tissues such as leaf, flower, pod, kernel, seed, square, boll, or other plant tissue susceptible to Lepidopteran damage can be used in bioassay to determine the Lepidopteran-inhibitory property of the TIC2160 variant. Such Lepitdopteran insect pests used in bioassay can include species such as Corn Earworm (CEW, also known as Soybean podworm, and Cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa zea), Fall Armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda), Soybean Looper (SBL, Chrysodeixis includens), European Corn Borer (ECB, Ostrinia nubilalis), Southwestern Corn Borer (SWC, Diatraea grandiosella), Sugarcane Borer (SCB, Diatraea saccharalis), Black cutworm (BCW, Agrotis ipsilon), Southern armyworm (SAW, Spodoptera eridania), Cabbage looper (CLW, Trichoplusia ni), Tobacco budworm (TBW, Heliothis virescens), and Velvetbean caterpillar (VBC, Anticarsia gemmatalis); or other Lepidopteran pests which feed on the particular plant species.

All of the compositions disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the compositions of this invention have been described in terms of the foregoing illustrative embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations, changes, modifications, and alterations may be applied to the composition described herein, without departing from the true concept, spirit, and scope of the invention. More specifically, it will be apparent that certain agents that are both chemically and physiologically related may be substituted for the agents described herein while the same or similar results would be achieved. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope, and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

All publications and published patent documents cited in the specification are incorporated herein by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A recombinant nucleic acid molecule comprising a heterologous promoter operably linked to a polynucleotide segment encoding a pesticidal protein wherein said pesticidal protein comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 95% amino acid sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 39, wherein said protein exhibits activity against an insect species of the order Lepidoptera.
 2. A plant cell comprising the recombinant nucleic acid molecule of claim 1, wherein said recombinant nucleic acid molecule is expressed to produce a pesticidally effective amount of the pesticidal protein.
 3. A host cell comprising the recombinant nucleic acid molecule of claim 1, wherein said host cell is selected from the group consisting of a bacterial cell and a plant cell.
 4. The bacterial host cell of claim 3, wherein said bacterial host cell is from a genus of bacteria selected from the group consisting of: Agrobacterium, Rhizobium, Bacillus, Brevibacillus, Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, and Erwinia.
 5. The plant host cell of claim 3, wherein said plant host cell is a dicotyledonous plant cell or a monocotyledonous plant cell.
 6. The plant host cell of claim 3, wherein said plant host cell is selected from the group consisting of an alfalfa, banana, barley, bean, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cassava, castor, cauliflower, celery, chickpea, Chinese cabbage, coconut, coffee, corn, clover, cotton, cucumber, Douglas fir, eggplant, eucalyptus, flax, garlic, grape, hops, leek, lettuce, Loblolly pine, millets, melons, nut, oat, olive, onion, palm, pasture grass, pea, peanut, pepper, pigeon pea, potato, poplar, pumpkin, Radiata pine, radish, rapeseed, rice, rye, safflower, sorghum, Southern pine, soybean, spinach, squash, strawberry, sugar beet, sugarcane, sunflower, sweet corn, sweet gum, sweet potato, switchgrass, tea, tobacco, tomato, triticale, turf grass, watermelon, and wheat plant cell.
 7. A plant comprising a recombinant nucleic acid molecule comprising a heterologous promoter operably linked to a polynucleotide segment encoding a pesticidal protein, wherein: a) said pesticidal protein comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 95% amino acid sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 39, wherein said protein exhibits activity against an insect species of the order Lepidoptera.
 8. The plant of claim 7, wherein said plant is a monocotyledonous plant or a dicotyledonous plant.
 9. The plant of claim 7, wherein the plant is selected from the group consisting of an alfalfa, banana, barley, bean, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cassava, castor, cauliflower, celery, chickpea, Chinese cabbage, coconut, coffee, corn, clover, cotton, cucumber, Douglas fir, eggplant, eucalyptus, flax, garlic, grape, hops, leek, lettuce, Loblolly pine, millets, melons, nut, oat, olive, onion, palm, pasture grass, pea, peanut, pepper, pigeon pea, potato, poplar, pumpkin, Radiata pine, radish, rapeseed, rice, rye, safflower, sorghum, Southern pine, soybean, spinach, squash, strawberry, sugar beet, sugarcane, sunflower, sweet corn, sweet gum, sweet potato, switchgrass, tea, tobacco, tomato, triticale, turf grass, watermelon, and wheat.
 10. A seed from the plant of claim 7, wherein said seed comprises said recombinant nucleic acid molecule.
 11. An insect inhibitory composition comprising the pesticidal protein of claim
 1. 12. The insect inhibitory composition of claim 11, further comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding at least one other pesticidal agent that is different from said pesticidal protein.
 13. The insect inhibitory composition of claim 12, wherein said at least one other pesticidal agent is selected from the group consisting of an insect inhibitory protein, an insect inhibitory dsRNA molecule, and an ancillary protein.
 14. The insect inhibitory composition of claim 13, wherein said at least one other pesticidal agent exhibits activity against one or more pest species of the orders Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Homoptera, or Thysanoptera.
 15. The insect inhibitory composition of claim 14, wherein said at least one other pesticidal protein is selected from the group consisting of a Cry1A, Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, Cry1A.105, Cry1Ae, Cry1B, Cry1C, Cry1D, Cry1E, Cry1F, Cry1A/F chimeras, Cry1G, Cry1H, Cry1I, Cry1J, Cry1K, Cry1L, Cry2A, Cry2Ab, Cry2Ae, Cry3, Cry3A, Cry3B, Cry4B, Cry6, Cry7, Cry8, Cry9, Cry15, Cry34, Cry35, Cry43A, Cry43B, Cry51Aa1, ET29, ET33, ET34, ET35, ET66, ET70, TIC400, TIC407, TIC417, TIC431, TIC800, TIC807, TIC834, TIC853, TIC900, TIC901, TIC1201, TIC1415, TIC3131, VIP3A, VIP3B, VIP3Ab, AXMI-001, AXMI-002, AXMI-030, AXMI-035, AXMI-036, AXMI-045, Axmi52, Axmi58, Axmi88, Axmi97, Axmi102, Axmi112, Axmi117, Axmi100, AXMI-115, AXMI-113, AXMI-005, AXMI134, AXMI-150, Axmi171, AXMI-184, axmi196, axmi204, axmi207, axmi209, Axmi205, AXMI218, AXMI220, AXMI221z, AXMI222z, AXMI223z, AXMI224z, AXMI225z, AXMI238, AXMI270, AXMI279, AXMI345, AXMI-R1, IP3, DIG-3, DIG-5, DIG-10, and a DIG-11.
 16. A commodity product produced from the host cell of claim 3, said commodity product comprising a detectable amount of said recombinant nucleic acid molecule or said pesticidal protein.
 17. The commodity product of claim 16, selected from the group consisting of flakes, cakes, flour, meal, syrup, oil, silage, starch, cereal, juices, concentrates, jams, jellies, marmalades, whole seed, processed seed, lint, fiber, paper, biomass, fuel products, pellets protein, bran, milk, cheese, wine, animal feed, and cream; wherein said commodity product is produced from a host cell derived from a plant selected from the group consisting of soybean, rice, wheat, sorghum, pigeon pea, peanut, and melon.
 18. A method of producing seed comprising the recombinant nucleic acid molecule of claim 1, said method comprising: a) planting at least one seed comprising said recombinant nucleic acid molecule of claim 1; b) growing a plant from said at least one seed; and c) harvesting seeds from said plant, wherein said harvested seeds comprise said recombinant nucleic acid molecule of claim
 1. 19. A method for controlling a Lepidopteran species pest, said method comprising contacting said pest with an insecticidally effective amount of at least one pesticidal protein comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 95% amino acid sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 39, wherein said protein exhibits activity against an insect species of the order Lepidoptera. 